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Q&A

Is it possible for a species to have more than two sexes?

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Every species I'm aware of on earth has two sexes (with the possible exception of species which change their sexes to allow self fertilization).

Is it possible for a species to evolve which could have more than two sexes? How would such a race be competitive against species which only required two beings to meet and form a partnership?

I've edited this question to use the word sex rather than gender as I'm looking for biologically based answers and wasn't aware of the distinction some answers have clarified.

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This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/579. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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It is not only possible, apparently it actually exists on earth. The abstract of the linked article reads:

Two recently discovered cases of genetic caste determination in social insects might provide the first example of a major evolutionary transition from two to more than two sexes. I argue here that the system can be interpreted as comprising primarily individuals requiring gametes from three parental types and having four sexes from the perspective of demographic extinction. Additionally, I show how this mating system can be seen as a major evolutionary transition. For these populations, it is apparent that the mechanism for a three- or four-sex system does not lie within the myriad of possible arrangements of chromosomes within individuals, but at the next level of evolutionary complexity, with the arrangement of chromosomes among individuals within a social system.

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